0000000001063750
AUTHOR
Alberto Martínez-ortí
Land Snails as a Diet Diversification Proxy during the Early Upper Palaeolithic in Europe
Despite the ubiquity of terrestrial gastropods in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological record, it is still unknown when and how this type of invertebrate resource was incorporated into human diets. In this paper, we report the oldest evidence of land snail exploitation as a food resource in Europe dated to 31.3-26.9 ka yr cal BP from the recently discovered site of Cova de la Barriada (eastern Iberian Peninsula). Mono-specific accumulations of large Iberus alonensis land snails (Ferussac 1821) were found in three different archaeological levels in association with combustion structures, along with lithic and faunal assemblages. Using a new analytical protocol based on taphonomic…
Contribution to the knowledge of the terrestrial slugs (gastropoda, pulmonata) of the Maghreb
As a result of recent malacological campaigns of our team in Algeria and Morocco, some previous samples, and after reviewing the literature, specially the recent papers about the Tunisian slugs, we produce a list of slugs of the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), with comments or discussion on each of the 17 species that form this list. We report for the first time Deroceras laeve (O.F. Müller, 1774) and Testacella haliotidea Draparnaud, 1801 in North Africa, although with reservations regarding the latter. We also report Lehmannia nyctelia (Bourguignat, 1861) for the first time in Morocco, concretely in the Chafarinas Islands, of Spanish sovereignty
Evidence of autochthonous transmission of urinary schistosomiasis in Almeria (southeast Spain): An outbreak analysis.
Abstract Background Schistosomiasis is endemic in 78 countries belonging to tropical and subtropical areas. However, autochthonous transmission of urogenital schistosomiasis was reported in Corsica (France) in 2013. We present evidence of autochthonous transmission of urogenital schistosomiasis in Almeria (Spain) in 2003. Methods Description of the outbreak in farmers and subsequent epidemiological studies aimed at searching for Bulinus snails and their genotypic characteristics. Results The outbreak affected 4 farmers out of a group of 5 people who repeatedly bathed that summer in an irrigation pool in the area. Two of them presented macroscopic hematuria with bilharziomas, showing the pre…
About the finding of the invasive geomitrid Xerolenta obvia (Menke, 1828) (Mollusca, Stylommatophora) in Andorra.
An invasive snail population of Xerolenta obvia was discovered at the end of 2021 in Sant Julià de Lòria (Principat d'Andorra). This location, the first occurrence of this species for this country, is intermediate between the few locations in the south of France and the only known location in Spain. For its taxonomical determination, morpho-anatomical studies of the shell and the reproductive system have been carried out, and it has been compared with other species of geomitrids that are more similar based on the shell, such as Cernuella neglecta or Helicella itala and even, for less expert people, with Xerosecta cespitum arigonis, also present in Andorra. X. obvia is an i…
Addendum to the type catalogue of the malacological collection in the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona
S’amplia el catàleg d’exemplars tipus de mol·luscs del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona, publicat l’any 2008, amb nou material corresponent a 42 tàxons de mol·luscs continentals de la península Ibèrica, les illes Balears i les Canàries. La majoria d’espècimens pertanyen a les col·leccions històriques del Museu o a la col·lecció malacològica de Miquel Bech, donada a la institució el 2009. Per a cada tàxon representat s’aporta informació relativa a la categoria del tipus, el nombre d’exemplars, la procedència geogràfca, els espècimens tipus custodiats en altres institucions i l’estatus taxonòmic actual, amb indicació, si escau, dels textos de referència pel que fa a nomenclatura. El ca…
Listado actualizado y comentado de las babosas terrestres (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Stylommatophora) de la península ibérica y las islas Baleares
En este artículo recopilamos y comentamos la lista de las especies de babosas terrestres (“Pulmonados desnudos”) de la península ibérica (algunas también presentes en el sur de Francia) e islas Baleares, basándonos en una revisión bibliográfica hasta el nivel de especie y en nuestras propias recolecciones. Está formada por 71 especies, de las cuales 34 son endémicas, y de ellas sólo dos de Baleares, pertenecientes a 9 familias y 16 géneros. Realizamos 30 comentarios sobre diversas características morfo-anatómicas de algunos taxones del listado y se discuten algunos aspectos nomenclaturales…
Small vertebrates from a Holocene gravelly deposit at El Salt (Alcoi, Alicante)
The small-vertebrates’ assemblage recovered comes from Units I to IV from El Salt site (Alcoi, Spain). The sample is composed by nearly 310 remains, and includes one toad (Epidalea calamita), two lizards (Lacertidae indet. and Chalcides cf. bedriagai), two snakes (Coronella cf. girondica and cf. Coronella sp.), two insectivores (Crocidura sp. and Sorex sp.), one lagomorph (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and seven rodent taxa (Arvicola sapidus, Microtus sp., M. arvalis, M. cabrerae, M. duodecimcostatus, Apodemus sylvaticus, and Eliomys quercinus). All the species described in the present work are consistent with a Late Pleistocene-Holocene chronology. The presence of M. cabrerae (absent in the Middl…
Iberian Distribution of the Freshwater Snail Genus Bithynia Leach, 1818 (Mollusca: Truncatelloidea), Vector of Opisthorchiasis and Metorchiasis
Background: Opisthorchis felineus and Metorchis bilis are trematodes that cause opisthorchiasis and metorchiasis, respectively. The freshwater snails Bithynia hispanica and B. tentaculata are the respective intermediate hosts for these parasites in the Iberian Peninsula, where both parasites are present. Methods: To study the distribution of these snail species, an exhaustive literature review and revision of museum collections was performed. Results: A total of 370 localities were compiled and mapped. B. tentaculata were found throughout the Iberian Peninsula, both in Spain and Portugal, while B. hispanica was found only in the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Conclusion: Knowing the distribu…
Primeros hallazgos del mejillón invasor Brachidontes pharaonis (P. Fischer, 1870) (Mollusca Bivalvia: F. Mytilidae) en la costa valenciana (España)
Se dan a conocer por primera vez diversos hallazgos del bivalvo marino invasor lessepsiano Brachidontes pharaonis en la costa valenciana, en los puertos de Xàbia y Calp, ambos en la provincia de Alicante (España), incrementando la distribución conocida de esta especie en la costa mediterránea española. Se proporcionan algunos datos conquiológicos, se figuran ejemplares utilizados en su identificación y se muestra el mapa actualizado de su distribución geográfica en la costa mediterránea española y en el mediterráneo occidental.
Revisión taxonómica de Helix zapateri Hidalgo, 1870 (Pulmonata: Trissexodontidae) y su nuevo estatus en la malacofauna ibérica
Alberto Martínez Ortí: alberto.martinez@uv.es Revisión taxonómica de Helix zapateri Hidalgo, 1870 (Pulmonata, Trissexodontidae) y su nuevo estatus en la malacofauna ibérica.— Se realiza la revisión taxonómica y se discute la nueva asignación genérica del taxon ibérico Helix zapateri, mediante la comparación de caracteres conquiológicos con las especies más similares, Hatumia pseudogasulli y Gasullia gasulli, ambas trissexodóntidos. Los estudios conquiológicos nos permiten concluir que Helix zapateri debe ser considerada como una especie válida y designarse como Hatumia zapateri, y que Hatumia pseudogasulli corresponde a un sinónimo posterior de H. zapateri. Taxonomical revision of Helix zap…
Systematic consumption of non-marine gastropods at open-air Mesolithic sites in the Iberian Mediterranean region
Arenal de la Virgen and Casa Corona, located in the upper Vinalopo Valley (SE of the Iberian Peninsula), are open-air Mesolithic sites dated to the Middle Holocene – 8600-7800 cal BP. Recent excavations have provided evidence of non-marine assemblages dominated by terrestrial (Sphincterochila candidissima and Iberus alonensis) and fresh water gastropods (Melanopsis tricarinata tricarinata) associated with habitation structures. These sites represent the first documented cases of systematic land snail consumption at open-air residential camps in the Iberian Mediterranean Region. This report presents the assemblage composition and modern ethological parameters, and discusses taphonomic proces…
Temporal speciation pattern in the western Mediterranean genus Tudorella P. Fischer, 1885 (Gastropoda, Pomatiidae) supports the Tyrrhenian vicariance hypothesis.
The land snail genus Tudorella shows a peculiar disjunct distribution around the western Mediterranean coasts. Despite high phenotypic plasticity, only two species with a disputed number of subspecific taxa are currently recognised. We delimited the species with mitochondrial (COI & 16S) and nuclear (ITS-1) markers based on the unified species concept and suggested that there are eight species in the genus, two of them currently undescribed. Applying Bayesian phylogenetic model selection, we tested four different biogeographic hypotheses that could be causal for the current distribution pattern of extant Tudorella species. A scenario involving vicariance events resulting from the repeated s…
The conservation status of the world's freshwater molluscs
With the biodiversity crisis continuing unchecked, we need to establish levels and drivers of extinction risk, and reassessments over time, to effectively allocate conservation resources and track progress towards global conservation targets. Given that threat appears particularly high in freshwaters, we assessed the extinction risk of 1428 randomly selected freshwater molluscs using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, as part of the Sampled Red List Index project. We show that close to one-third of species in our sample are estimated to be threatened with extinction, with highest levels of threat in the Nearctic, Palearctic and Australasia and among gastropods. Threat levels were hi…